Hernial truss.



No. 695,377. Patented Mar. Il, i902,A

J. A. CRBETT.

HERNIAL TRUSS.

(Application filed June 11, 1901.)

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JOSEPH A. OORBETT, OF MEDFORD, OKLAHOMA TERRITORY.

HERNIAL TRUSS.

` srncrmcAToN forming part of Letters :Patent No. 695,377, dated March 11, 1902.

Serial No. 64,142. (No model.)

nTo a/ZZ whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, JOSEPH A. Connnrr, a citizen of the United States, residing at Medford, in the county of Grant and Territory of Oklahoma, have invented new"V and useful Improvements in Trusses, 0f which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to trusses; and the object of the invention is to providea simple yet thoroughly efficient article of this character so constructed that the pads will have an upward pressure against the rupture, which is increased as the wearer stoops, so that the latter may assume any position witnout affecting the hold of the pads in any degree on the hernia. These pads are usually of ball form, but are removable, so that pads of other kinds may be substituted thereforfor example, fiat pads. When the latter are used, the device may be used with facility as an intestinal support. The several parts are adjustable to suit persons of different sizes, and the positions of said parts can be quickly changed without unloosening the belt or bodyband forming a part of the truss.

The improved truss involves other advantageous features, which with the foregoing will be set forth at length in the following description, while the novelty of the invention will form the basis of the appended claims.

The invention is illustrated in one simple and convenient embodiment thereof in the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in whichl Figure lis a perspective view of the truss. Fig. 2 is a perspective view of a rear slide to which a leg-strap is connected. Figs. 3 and 4 are side elevations of other slides hereinafter more particularly described. Fig. 5 is a similar view of the pad.

Likecharacters refer to like parts in all the figures of the drawings.

The truss constituting the subject-matter of this application includes in its construction a belt or band, as A, to encircle the body of the wearer, `and it may be of any desired. length and width, it being preferably made of rubber webbing, as is the custom, and it is provided with the common sliding buckle 2, by which it may be fastened in place. By

moving the buckle on the belt the tension thereof may be regulated as desired. The belt carries at the front thereof two series of slides,to which the hernia-pads are connected. I shall now describe in detail but one of the series of front slides and its coacting parts, like elements in the other series being'denoted by corresponding characters. The belt carries a pair of slides, as 3 and d, and an intermediate slide 5, each of suitable material and movable on the belt in the direction of its length, so that the position of the pad connected with said slide can be changed. The intermediate slide 5`is much longer than the slides 3 and 4, the latter being mates. The upper end of the slide 5 is above the upper ends of the others for a purpose that will hereinafter appear. Each of the slides has on its rear bayonet-slots 20, of approximately T shape, so that they can be readily applied to and removed from the belt and as easily moved along the same, the three slides being so connected that they move laterally practically as a single structure. The crossbar 3', which may be and preferably consists of wire, passes completely through a transverse bore or hole in the intermediate slide at a place just above the belt, and said bar extends oppositely and substantially equal distances from said slide 5 and is sustained by the outer slides 3 and et, it being evident from this that the middle slide is capable of oscillating` on the cross-bar 3/ as a center. All the slides bear against the body, and they serve as effective intestinal supports. The outer slides 3 and t are bored, say, for about two-thirds the distance across the same from the inner edges thereof, the bores being in line with that in the middle and oscillatory slide and constituting suitable seats for the projecting ends of the cross bar 3. The outer slides 3 and 4 also have bores or holes extending their entire depth or vertically thereof which are adapted to receive the legs or branches of a substantially inverted-U- shaped frame B, preferably of spring-wire, said legs or branches serving to force the outer slides together or toward each other, so that they may be maintained in proper relation with respect to the middle slide 5, and said slides 3 and 4 move freely down and up the loo branches of the U -shaped frame as the wearer successively stoops and resumes an erectpo'- sition.

The transverse member of the frame B extends through a transverse bore near the outer fiat surface of the hernial pad 8, so that the latter can swing or turn on such transverse member as a pivot, the motion being somewhat slight-say about the fourth part of' a circle-such motion occurring when the springs are applied, and its object is to change the direction of the pressure on hernia from a horizontal to an upward pressure.

The hernial pads 8 are connected to the intermediate slides or supports 5 by short lengths ortabs, as 9, preferably of solid rubber or like flexible material, the parts being preferably detachably united, so that the said pads, which are of ball form, may be removed and other kinds of pads, such as dat hollow ones, substituted therefor.

The leg-bands are denoted by l0, and they are preferably made from material that will notchaf'e the skin, such as silk-rubber, they having short leather strips or tabs 12 at one end, each detachably connected with one of vertical rows of buttons, as 13, on the hernial pads. The opposite ends of the leg-bands have very much longer leather strips, as 14, having lines of buttonholes to receive buttons on the slides 15, adapted to be worn at the back of the belt between the backbone and hips, respectively, and they are adapted to frictionally embrace the belt, so that they may be thereby maintained in an adjusted position.

Coiled springs are shown at 1G and 17, they being shown as connected at their ends to the top of the intermediate slide 5 and at their lower ends to the transverse member of the U-shaped frame B, the shouldersG and 7 of which prevent undue lateral motion of said springs. Said springs may be made shorter and fastened lower down on the slide 5 than shown, if desired.

The effect of the coiled springs is to change the direction of pressure from the flat or horizontal to a direct or upward one. One-fourth of a revolution of the pad will change the pressure from the flat or horizontal to a direet upward one, and therefore any degree of a revolution of the pad, and hence any degree of upward pressure, may be regulated by the tab connecting the pad to the middle slide, or the same results can be obtained in other ways.

The leg-straps 10 when the springs are use are only necessary to hold the pads in position, and in most cases the springs may be dispensed with, as the pads will give a desired support without spring-pressure to the intestineS.

By mounting the slide or support 5 for oscillation the hernia or rupture can be more firmly held when the wearer is in a stooping than an erect position, for the reason that the bending of the body 'forward carries the upper end of said slide forward, thereby carrying the lower endl inward, and hence correspondingly increasing the pressure on the hernia or intestines. The user can therefore assume any stoopng position without affecting the stress of the pads on the injured parts,

owing to the flexibility of the parts as the body changes its position.

The truss, it will be understood from the foregoing, is adjustable to fit large or small persons, and the pads can be moved sidewise by simply shiftingthe several coacting slides,

and ythis result can be accomplished without undoing the belt.

By tightening the belt and lengthening the leg-straps the pads will be raised, and they may be lowered by reversing this operation.

By removing the pads illustrated and substituting therefor flat ones the truss can be used with decided advantage as an intestinal support.

The cross-bar 3', being loosely held in slides 3, 4, and 5, gives flexibility to the truss as to any action of the body otherwise than in stooping or rising, while the legs of the U- shaped frame B, along which the slides 3 and 4 slide, gives flexibility to the truss, and all without adecting the stress or tension on the hernia. The parts of the truss are therefore fiexible or yielding to any motion of the body, at the same time being rigid as to the hold on Vthe hernia, the tension being increased rather than decreased when the wearer stoops. The truss also serves to effectually support the bowels, while with theform of pad shown it is possible it secures pressure near the bones or hard parts, although it will be evident that the pad as well as other parts of the truss may be of any suitable character.

The invention is not limited to the mech' anism hereinbefore described, for it may be materially modified within the scope of the appended claims.

Having described the invention, I claim- 1. In a truss, a belt, a series of slides carried by the belt, a pivot supported by two of the slides above the belt, and one of the slides being supported for oscillation by said pivot, and serving as a pad-support.

2. In a truss, a belt, a series of three slides the two outer ones being bored, a pivot seated in said bores above the belt, and thethird slide being supported for swinging movement by said pivot, and constituting a pad-support.

3. In a truss, a belt, a series of three slides carried by the belt, a pivot supported by the two outer slides, and the middle slide being supported for swinging movement by said pivot, and means to hold the said outer slides in parallelism.

4. In a truss, a belt, a series of three slides carried by the belt, a pivot supported bythe two outer slides and the middle slide being supported for swinging movement by said pivot, and a U-shaped spring-frame, the legs of which are connected to the outer slides.

5. In a truss, a belt, a series of three slides carried by the belt, a pivot supported by the two outer slides, and the middle slide being supported for swinging movement by said pivot, a U-shaped spring-frame, the legs of which are connected to the outer slides, and a pad supported for swinging movement by the cross-bar of saidlframe.

G. In a truss, a belt, two slides carried by said belt having transverse seats and bores extending entirely through the same vertically thereof, a U-shaped spring-frame, the branches of which are inserted in said bores, a pivot the ends of which are fitted in said seats, a third slide supported for swinging movement by said pivot,- and a pad supported for swinging movement by the cross-bar of said frame, and connected with the third slide.

7. In a truss, a belt two slides carried by said belt having transverse seats and bores extending entirely through the same Vertically thereof, a U-shaped spring-frame, the

ybranches of which are inserted in said. bores',

JOSEPH A. CORBETT;

Witnesses:

B. W. GAsKILL W. A. WILSON. 

